I run Vista. Have run it for about half a year now. Previously, I was a Mac user for 5 years and used Linux on secondary desktops during that time.

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If you switched, or chose not to use Vista, why?

I switched because I could not afford to upgrade to new Mac hardware. The laptop I'm using now costs half as much as the cheapest Macbook, and this was when they still had that horrid integrated graphics.

Software wise, it also made sense as I'm a C++ developer by profession and the company I work for has some deal with MS that allows employees to run MS software at home for cheap.

Now that I've plonked down some cast to invest in the Windows versions PS Elements, Noise Ninja, etc, it's now very difficult to go back to the Mac since I'll need new hardware, and more importantly new licenses of software.

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If you've had issues with Vista, what were they?

None, it is fine. I'm looking at upgrading to Vista x64 though, just because I can . Also, the stuff I need all run flawlessly on Vista x64 so I might take the plunge at some point.

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I ask because the argument for Macs is that they're OS is superior to Vista as far as stability, etc.

There are many things that are good about OS X. I didn't switch to Vista due to technical merit. I switch due to my poor wallet.

During my 5 years as a Mac head, I was doing a PhD in neural networks. That involved reading a lot of papers. Spotlight which came with Tiger in 2005 was totally awesome and it completely revolutionised the way I stored papers. I just chucked them into a folder and let Spotlight index away! No longer did I need to manually keyword them into a BibTex database. I need a paper that covers certain topics? I just hit Cmd + Space, type in the words and get a list of PDF documents that match. Pure research bliss.

The OpenGL implementation on OS X is a lot better than under Linux or Windows (circa 2003). I understand that a lot of this is to do with the graphics driver, particularly under Linux. I don't need OpenGL for games, but I do need OpenGL for 3D graph visualization. Ever tried plotting a 3D graph in Matlab with over a million data points? Without proper 3D acceleration, you'll go insane. On Linux, only nVidia drivers work well enough. Anything else doesn't seem to do it quickly and you see rendering artifacts. On my old Windows box with an nVidia driver, I'd get an illegal operation (coming from nv_something.dll if I recall correctly) and the whole thing would come crashing down. OS X, it just worked

Exposé is just too awesome. Really, it is. I imagine it would be very useful for graphic work as I found it really awesome as it allowed me to quickly navigate to the graph that I needed. To date, Windows doesn't have anything similar.

Application navigation is also superior. In windows you have Alt+Tab. On OS X, you can CMD-Tab to navigate between applications and CMD-` to navigate between application windows. I personally found that to be a much superior approach.

I'm running Vista on my main PC, and find it is much more resource intensive than XP. That's why I wiped Vista from my slower laptop and installed XP on it instead. But for my desktop, support for more RAM with Vista 64-bit outweighs the other issues. Of course there was also XP 64 bit, but I never got the chance to try that.

When you're trying to make your choice consider the following:
How much am I willing to spend (for what I get)?
-Decide whether the features of OS X that many people like is worth the higher price. Also consider the computing power per dollar that you get on one vs. the other.

Which one do I like better?
-If you have experience with OS X and vista, choose the one that you're more comfortable with. If you haven't tried one or the either, you should. Think of it like shopping for a camera. You should go get an idea of the feel of the thing before you buy it. It doesn't matter what other people think, it matter's what you think.

Will I be able to migrate my software collection over?
-If you have a vast collection of software for one, it might be cost-prohibitive to move to the other. I'm not sure, but some companies might allow one serial number to be used on 2 different OSes, but I think that number is small.

I'd like to say that overall Vista is not a bad operating system. I'm a college student, majoring in Computer Science. I have rather little money, so I built my own computer (always been my preferred route). I run Windows Vista x64 Business Edition (got it free during a promotional offer), and Ubuntu 8.10 x64 (Linux). I've also played with Mac OS on my system experimentally.

I use Vista primarily because it simply runs the majority of applications that I need/want. I can run CS2 on linux, but CS3 and CS4 support is currently very poor. Gaming on Mac OS is poor, and on on Linux it's virtually non-existent. I enjoy the flexibility of my system because it's cheap and easy for me to upgrade. I don't simply toss out the whole machine every couple of years, I incrementally upgrade different components at a time which is very cost effective.

Of course there was also XP 64 bit, but I never got the chance to try that.

I would expect it to be not too difficult to be able to find an XP64 license, either new or second hand. But you can still get a new license from M$ if you get either the Ultimate or Business (OEM) version of Vista and exercise your rights to a downgrade.

Personally I think M$ should be forced to keep selling XP so they at least will be in competition with themselves and to give more choosing power to the buying public.

Of course there was also XP 64 bit, but I never got the chance to try that.

I would expect it to be not too difficult to be able to find an XP64 license, either new or second hand. But you can still get a new license from M$ if you get either the Ultimate or Business (OEM) version of Vista and exercise your rights to a downgrade.

Personally I think M$ should be forced to keep selling XP so they at least will be in competition with themselves and to give more choosing power to the buying public.

Of course there was also XP 64 bit, but I never got the chance to try that.

I would expect it to be not too difficult to be able to find an XP64 license, either new or second hand. But you can still get a new license from M$ if you get either the Ultimate or Business (OEM) version of Vista and exercise your rights to a downgrade.

Personally I think M$ should be forced to keep selling XP so they at least will be in competition with themselves and to give more choosing power to the buying public.

Ben_________________When in doubt..... Press the shutter.

Well, they do sell XP (due to popular demand!). I wouldn't use XP x64 though. It's no longer supported by Microsoft, which means you won't get any updates for it. It'd be like deciding to install Windows 2000. Good OS, but no longer supported.

i run a 64bit vista quad core machine that i built myself ... i was really anti vista at one point but whats the point having the hardware if your not going to use it to its full potential i have cs3 and some other graphics / logo design software that i use the increase of speed is very noticable over the standard home addition of xp using the same hardware if your thinking of upgrading then i would say go for it .... yes i know there were problems with some software and 64bit os but times change and things improve and alternatives are always available im i glad i finally took the plunge honestly YES!
(IN TIME MY NEXT BUILD WILL HAVE 2 QUADS)

What happened there Ben? Btw, do you write that signature yourself everytime you post? Because it was not here, and when someone quotes you, it 's included.

Heh. I think some careless mousing was the cause here. I edited that posting after I posted it but changed it back again. I guess I inadvertently must have hit the quote button instead.

And that 'signature effect' is due to the fact that I write all my postings in Word. I have the date and signature with a few empty lines in between and a separating line of dashes already copy/pasted several times in the document. I can use the full Word functionality while writing my postings. Especially convenient when writing a lengthier posting. When finished I select the text, do a spell check to weed out the typos, and copy/paste it in the forum entry box. The next day I change the date and make a few copies again. It's quite convenient and that way I also keep a copy of everything I posted on my computer. It is also very convenient when I want to re-use something I already posted before. A quick search and copy/paste does the trick. I just did it in the posting I made before this one. I re-posted four links I had posted once before.

So I don’t type the signature every time. It's already there. I just chose this way over entering it into my profile. Occasionally I want to leave the signature out and that's easy to do this way.

csrussell wrote:

Well, they do sell XP (due to popular demand!). I wouldn't use XP x64 though. It's no longer supported by Microsoft, which means you won't get any updates for it.

From what I've read I understand that after a few postponements M$ has now stopped selling XP. If that information is incorrect I'd be interested in a link to an (official) page showing they are still selling it. And from what I've read I understand they are not planning any more service packs for WinXP64. But no support meaning no security updates? Not having used XP64 myself I don't keep up on every detail of its status though.

The mother in-law works in a school that gets over loaded with tech gear quite regularly and I mentioned that I was buying a laptop she said you can have one of mine if you want... Thinking it would just be some poor old standard laptop I said what is it? The response was it is a 4 month old mac book pro with 4mb of RAM, 17" screen... Basically top of the line 4 months ago so I am happy as possible with that. And it has saved me a small fortune!

So mac here I come, looking forward to working with one on a more regular basis. Pick it up on Wednesday!

A desktop is always a better buy than a laptop (as far as power of the system for the price you pay).

Get the laptop if you need the portability. I've got to say, the majority of college students I see with laptops don't need them. Most play games in class instead of taking notes. It's actually pretty amusing, but distracting to watch them. Anyway, off topic.

Quick question to those out there. Yes, I know the debate is about Mac or PC for CS4, so I need to ask:How many of you are running Vista, or used to run Vista?If you switched, or chose not to use Vista, why?If you've had issues with Vista, what were they?

I ask because the argument for Macs is that they're OS is superior to Vista as far as stability, etc.

I'm not saying you're wrong, or lying, I'm just curious to hear what you're reasons are for thinking what you think.

Stability depends on hardware as well. I've used some very unstable macs and some very stable ones as well. If you get an expensive mac it should be stable. I'm running vista on my main pc and haven't had any problems so far. It's been better than XP I think. If you have decent high quality hardware Vista runs just fine. It's a gaming pc so it's got 4gb ram and a beefy processor.